Ferdinand von Mueller

From French 'réussir', to succeed?

No such comments in the Australian German press have been found. Moreover, the local German newspapers were not all uncritical. In Sud Australische Zeitung, 17 September 1872, p. 4, the unsigned weekly report from Victoria, dated 7 September, included a discussion of M’s case:

Am Dienstag Abend kam im Unterhause die in den Estimates für den Botanischen Garten ausgeworfene Summe zur Berathung und wurde die Debatte über die beste Vertheilung des Geldes, welche Mr. Hodgkinson angegeben hatte, noch am Mittwoch fortgesetzt. Hiernach soll Dr. F. von Müller sein Jahresgehalt von £610 als Botaniker der Colonie Victoria fortbeziehen, dabei behält er die Oberaufsicht über den Botanischen Garten und bekommt ein passendes Stück Land an der Obern Yarra, auf dem er experimentiren kann. — Ohnedem, daß ich Ihnen davon speciell Meldungen machte, werden Sie wohl von den Zänkereien gehört haben die der Stand unseres von der Natur so begünstigten Botanischen Gartens und die Leitung desselben durch Hrn. Baron v. Müller verursacht hat, und die uns Deutschen hier manchmal höchst ärgerlich gewesen sind. All ein alter Bekannter des Doctors seit seiner Ankunft in Adelaide habe ich mit Bedauern diese ewigen Reibereien zwischen ihm und dem englischen Publikum — das sich in unserer Presse äussprach — wahrgenommen und wenn ich jetzt einige Worte über den Gegenstand sage, so geschieht dies sicherlich nicht aus Abneigung gegen unsern Landsmann, dessen Namen noch genannt werden wird, wenn die Erinnerung an die Herren Francis, Duffy, McCulloch und die anderen dii minorum gentium längst vergessen sein wird. Es fehlt leider unserm Ferdinand Müller etwas am savoir vivre, er versteht sich nicht in Respect zu setzen, and möchte jeden Gevatter Schneider und Handschuhmacher, wenn derselbe nur im Parlamente sitzt, auf seine Seite bringen und zu seinem Verfechter machen. Damit wird aber die deutsche Wissenschaft nicht geehrt und es hat mir immer wehe gethan, wenn ich solche Tieffenbacher sich rühmen hörte, daß Baron Müller sie "button hole" und ihnen seine Klagen vorjammere. Wenn Philipp seine Spanier stolz wissen wollte, so hat Kaiser Wilhelm gewiß dasselbe Recht, heute seine Deutschen stolz zu sehen, und namentlich ein in der ganzen Welt bekannter und berühmter Gelehrter wie Ferdinand Müller sollte darüber erhaben sein, unsern small fry von Politikern den Hof zu machen. Diese Bemerkungen sind in freundlichstem Geiste geschrieben und es sollte mir herzlich lieb sein, wenn sie die Wirkung hätten, die ich ihnen wünschte.

[On Tuesday evening [i.e. 3 September; see Argus, 4 September 1872, p. 4], the sum of money for the Botanical Gardens as stated in the Estimates was discussed in the Lower House and the debate on the best distribution of the money, which Mr. Hodgkinson had indicated, was continued on Wednesday. According to this, Dr. F. von Mueller shall continue to receive his annual salary of £610 as botanist of the Colony of Victoria, while retaining the superintendence of the Botanical Gardens and receiving a suitable piece of land on the Upper Yarra on which he can experiment. - Without my informing you specifically, you will probably have heard of the quarrels which the state of our botanical garden, so favoured by nature, and the management of it by Baron von Müller, have caused, and which have sometimes been highly annoying to us Germans here. As an old acquaintance of the Doctor's since his arrival in Adelaide, I have noticed with regret these eternal frictions between him and the English public - expressed in our press - and if I now say a few words about the subject, it is certainly not out of dislike for our compatriot, whose name will still be mentioned when the memory of Messrs Francis, Duffy, McCulloch and the other dii minorum gentium [gods of lesser nations] will have long been forgotten. Unfortunately, our Ferdinand Müller lacks a bit of savoir vivre, he does not know how to place himself in respect, and would like to get every butcher, baker and candlestick-maker on his side and make him his champion, if only they sit in parliament. This, however, does not honour German science, and it has always pained me to hear such Tieffenbachers boast that Baron Müller "button holes" them and whines his complaints to them. If Philipp wanted his Spaniards to be proud, Kaiser Wilhelm certainly has the same right to see his Germans proud today, and especially a scholar like Ferdinand Müller, who is known and famous throughout the world, should be above courting our small fry politicians. These remarks are written in the friendliest spirit and I should be very pleased if they had the effect I wished them to have.]

For example, see note 1 to M to J. Hooker, 12 August 1872, that cites the Daily Telegraph defending M against an attack by the Argus.

William Ferguson. In M to J. Hooker, 11 October 1870 (in this edition as 70-11-06a), Hooker was told that Ferguson had been fined for drunkenness in the police court 'last month'. No report of the case has been found in Victorian newspapers in September or October; however, reporting of these courts was selective, with occasional notes such as 'The only case of any interest was …' ( Argus , 13 October 1870, p. 6).

See Argus, 4 November 1869, p. 4: 'Mr. Ferguson has received official notification of his appointment as curator of the Botanic Gardens and Inspector of State Forests, […] Dr. von Mueller retains his office of Government Botanist […]'. By the time the present letter was written, Ferguson had been transferred to establish a government nursery at Macedon, c. 60 km northwest of Melbourne. Parliament voted for the solution when approving the annual expenditure estimates on 4 September; see Argus, 5 September 1872, p. 6).

No evidence of Ferguson being related to a government minister has been found, but he was employed by J. H. Brooke, who had been a minister in the early 1860s, from at least 1859 until 1863, when he began working for Hugh Glass at Flemington House (Fox (2004)). Glass was politically influential, but not a member of Parliament (ADB).